There are plenty of stocks out there, right now, with payouts growing fast— heck, some of them give shareholders a “raise” every three months. You won’t find these “Dividend Accelerators” among the big names of the Dow. A number of them are real estate investment trusts (REITs)—“landlords” of everything from apartments to warehouses. And they’re not just dividend-growth machines; most throw off higher current yields than the typical S&P stock, too. And I mean much higher: right now, the REIT benchmark Vanguard Real Estate ETF (VNQ) yields 4.5% as I write. The typical S&P 500 name? A sorry 1.5%. You can thank the federal government for that: it gives REITs a pass on corporate taxes as long as they pay 90% of their income as dividends.… Read more